Merry Christmas! It was the day before Christmas Eve 2019. Tim Walter (46) was fired as a trainer in Stuttgart. Back then, on matchday 18, VfB was third in the second division. Tied with the second HSV (31 points), three points behind leaders Bielefeld.
A rather comfortable position for Walter compared to the present in Hamburg. Since the coach with the HSV in seventh place behind the top. His team has scored a meager 20 points from 13 games – and only scored 20 goals.
There is still close contact with places one to three. But what counts for Walter from now on is: win, win, win – or check off your promotion.
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Now, with the game against Regensburg on Saturday, the Christmas final begins!
HSV still has five games until the holidays. Four at home in the newly greened Volksparkstadion (Regensburg, Ingolstadt, Rostock, Schalke). And one abroad in Hanover.
Then at the latest there will be billing. And looked to see whether the “good path” praised by HSV itself could become a motorway – or whether it remains a mogul slope.
In memory of: Walter received the following words from VfB sports director Sven Mislintat (49) in Stuttgart: “Competitive football is also subject to the dictates of the result, the development and the sporting trend. The extensive analysis of the first half of the season showed that we see our short- and medium-term goals of advancing and consistently developing our players and our game idea together endangered. “
Maybe the situation at HSV is different. “The development of a young team takes time,” Walter reminds us again and again. And those responsible around sports director Jonas Boldt (39) and sports director Michael Mutzel (42) see it similarly.
Yes, there was a change at HSV. He has the youngest squad (23.69 years on average) in the 2nd division. But he also has more money than the competition – with the exception of Schalke and Werder – at the start. The professional budget is around 20 million euros. Seventh place sounds almost like a joke with this sum …
In the Christmas final, HSV has to improve its point balance. For that he needs victories, victories, victories.
And Walter needs that too: Possession is his game philosophy. “Either you like them or you don’t like them,” said Sky expert Torsten Mattuschka (41) at BILD. “If you are unsuccessful, you run out of arguments.” Mutzel last described it as follows: “There are no nuances.” So little things …
The biggest problems of the HSV coach.
► The defense is full of holes and has also lost two top performers: the injured Tim Leibold (27 / torn cruciate ligament) and Jonas David (21 / torn fiber).
► The storm is harmless: With Robert Glatzel (27, six hits), Moritz Heyer (26, five hits) and Sonny Kittel (28, three hits, five assists) Walter only has three dangerous players. Almost nothing comes from midfield.
► The mood changes: Walter praises you, but maybe doesn’t listen properly either. The whistles after only one win (2-1 against Sandhausen) and four draws were clearly audible in the Volksparkstadion.
After three years in the second division with three fourth places, many fans have already lowered their expectations. They will hardly accept a fourth year with a drop into mediocrity.
For HSV only wins count now.